Archive for August 20th, 2018

The 8th Ward looks disgusting, and we can prove it. Don’t believe it? Drive up and down its main streets. Ald. Michelle Harris is helping the area plunge down into a slum by allowing businesses to come in that prey on the poor all the while attempting to transform the 8th ward and its communities into a slum to inevitably help and allow strangers to come in and buy for pennies on the dollar.

In the meantime, your property values will go down and crime will go up. Within the slums she builds and cultivates is one of the most affluent black communities in Chicago known as Pill Hill. Once a very wealthy black community, her reign has littered the surrounding area with deteriorating businesses and vacant property leaving the area only desirable for blood-suckers and exploitative businesses to come in, including her tower of Babel that pitted the communities against each other; thanks to her forked tongue delivery of the project and its component known as the Montclare, a low-income senior housing project that she was able to get the go-ahead from the city to allow construction. It will be her testament to her tenure and the ornament that shines in the middle of the devastation created under her watch including dialysis centers, organ donation facilities, businesses that buy blood from our young, businesses that can fence merchandise stolen from our neighbors, cash advance, storage units for people to store and many will eventually lose what they have due to discrimination and unemployment.

To add insult to injury, Ald. Harris has changed the report abandoned vehicles page on her website to report vacant/abandoned buildings, instead of adding a new page to report abandoned buildings. Is this an attempt to look like she was concerned about the abandoned buildings all the time by editing an existing page so it wouldn’t look like a new page? So much for reporting abandoned vehicles! This is just one example of the deception that constantly takes place when her ineptness is exposed or feels her position (she calls it a job) is threatened. It’s obvious she was shamed into looking as if she was concerned about it all the time, when she was not, yet she was tooting her own horn all over the place about how she was building the 8th Ward up with a low-income housing project in a middle to upper- middle class community. What a joke!

While they are half hanging street cleaning signs, the Department of Streets & Sanitation is coming through every month cleaning streets and ticketing the cars of people that didn’t see the signs because they weren’t placed properly where they could be seen. There was a time when residents didn’t get tickets on their street, the sweeper just went around and you you’d lose out on the cleaning.

Ald. Harris, please, for the well-being and sake of the community, step down as alderman. It is obvious you haven’t been a good caretaker for the ward. You’re in over your head – no creativity, no ideas, no vision, and nothing for the 8th ward but blight.

US Senate Judiciary Committee hearings into Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s fitness to serve on the US Supreme Court and his views are now scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 4, 2018.The NAACP has a number of grave concerns about this nomination and about the unnecessary rush to confirm this nominee. From his record as it exists and what we know about his views, decisions , and priorities, Judge Kavanaugh demonstrates no empathy with the very real concerns and needs of most working middle-class Americans or with the unique concerns of racial and ethnic minority Americans. Nor does he agree with or support the policy priorities of the NAACP. Thus, the NAACP remains steadfastly opposed to his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.Furthermore, much of his record, especially those detailing his opinions during his time serving as staff secretary to President George W. Bush have not been made available to the public nor to the Senators who will vet, evaluate and vote on his nomination. While it is true that we have access to his thinking prior to serving on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and then over the last 12 years, while serving on that court, appeals court judges are bound by precedents of the Supreme Court. However, Supreme Court Justices are free to overturn those precedents and apply their own views of the Constitution. Positions Mr. Kavanaugh took as a lawyer and staff member in the Bush administration will also shed additional light on how he might rule when unconstrained by a higher authority.For more information on what we know and what we need to know to make a fully informed decision, as well as how you can advocate, please see the attached Action Alert

When we think about crossing over to the other side. Leaving this world in spirit form where our soul returns back to the one and only creator of life, God. Many of us have had the opportunity to be blessed with the chance to see the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin either in church or in concert. Through the years Aretha has entertained us. By gracing us on stage with the lovely and unique voice she was blessed to entertain us with. Her music was shared with the world which involved different occasions, happy, sad, subtle and heartbreaking love. Many of her songs reminded me of family fun when I was a child watching my mother and uncles and aunties dancing in the living room at my grandmother’s house. I am certain there are so many of us irreguardless of color who can relate to those precious moments.

Aretha Franklin shocked the world when she demanded her(Respect) R.E.S.P.E.C.T. a major hit and every household throughout the United States was playing it. Let’s go back for a moment as I take you a little further down memory lane when Aretha blasted the world with Ain’t No Way. There was just no stopping The Queen of Soul as she went into demand filling concert hall after concert hall. You can bet there would be a sell out on all tickets with Aretha Franklin’s name posted at the top of the marquee.

Although she was the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin was discovered in church. Where she started as a gospel singer, I can still close my eyes and hear her singing Amazing Grace, I’m Climbing Higher Mountains, Precious Lord. Yes we all loved her and you have to admit she still holds the title The Queen of Soul. Mrs. Aretha Franklin continued to challengw herself through the years. A Queen amongst Queens there was no task she was afraid to meet and complete. Don’t forget Natural Woman, You Send Me; 3.The Weight; 4. Baby, I Love You; 5.Do Right Woman; 6.Chain Of Fools; 8.My Song; etc. She let us into her life and shared her love for music with the rest of the world.

Aretha Franklin gave us “I Say A Little Prayer” Now we must all say one for her and give thanks to the love, happiness and joy she brought into our homes, businesses, streets, club’s and churches. And we all danced to the unique tunes of Aretha Franklin. She is now being laid to rest and her journey on this earth is complete. A legend in her own time. You should sit back and play this song “Gotta Find Me an Angel.” Because one of our Angels has just flown away. Thank you Aretha for all the love you shared with us through the years.

The entire world watched the day Donald Trump took Vladimir Putin’s side in Helsinki, finally seeing what so many of us have been seeing for so long.

The world saw President Trump deny that Putin orchestrated a cyber-attack on our 2016 elections — and deny the consensus of our intelligence community that Russia is already attempting to attack our elections again this year.

There’s a name for siding with a hostile foreign dictator against the American people and their democracy: Treason. And Donald Trump’s treason has put our nation’s very democracy at risk.

Impeachment was written into the Constitution to remove a president who, just like Trump, betrays the American people. Join our movement and demand his impeachment now!

Last month Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking party platforms and stealing information from half a million American voters. That makes for 35 indictments in the investigation of Russian interference and related crimes, along with five guilty pleas — so far.

Trump dismissed these allegations because Putin — who was standing next to him at the time, after a two-hour private meeting — “was extremely strong and powerful in his denial.”

Since when does the U.S. president take the word of the leader of Russia on matters of national security? We cannot let this stand. We cannot allow ourselves to be led by a compromised president who not only allows but defends foreign attacks on our nation’s most elemental democratic processes.

EAST ST. LOUIS, IL — In a verdict virtually without precedent in Illinois, late yesterday a federal jury found three prison guards and a Department of Corrections nurse personally liable for over $250,000 in punitive damages for an incident in which a handcuffed prisoner at Menard Correctional Center was beaten up and denied access to medical care.

While penalties against the State are not uncommon in which state employees violate people’s rights, civil penalties tabulated personally against the prison guards and nurses themselves are rare, and attorneys say this is one of the largest such verdicts in the state’s history.

“What makes this verdict particularly sting for the prison employees is that under Illinois statutes, the State is forbidden to compensate them for verdict awards that come out of their pockets,” said Sarah Grady, an attorney at Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law.

According to the suit, Osbaldo Nicolas was attacked and beaten by Defendant William Qualls, the sergeant of the cellhouse where Nicolas was housed. While he was handcuffed, Qualls punched Nicolas in the head, smashed his head into a concrete wall, and kicked him in the torso and legs until he fell unconscious. Defendants Nathan Berry and Justin Snell watched Qualls beat Nicolas and did nothing to stop the attack. Afterward, Nicolas saw Defendant Aimee Lang, who failed to examine or treat his injuries. At trial, Qualls concocted an absurd tale that Nicolas had gotten injured when he slipped and fell on some ice.

Ultimately the jury found that Qualls had used excessive force on Nicolas, and awarded Nicolas $200,000 in punitive damages. The jury also found that Berry and Snell had failed to intervene, and awarded compensatory and punitive damages against them as well. Finally, the jury found that Lang failed to provide Nicolas adequate medical care and awarded $50,000 in punitive damages for her misconduct.

In addition to Ms. Grady, Mr. Nicolas is represented by Julie Goodwin and Adair Crosley, also of Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, one of the nation’s largest civil rights law firms. Over the past decade, Loevy & Loevy has won more multi-million-dollar jury verdicts than any other civil rights law firm in the country. A copy of the suit, Osbaldo Jose-Nicolas v. Nathan Berry, et al, No. 15 C 0964, is available here.

Schools must have democratic oversight from elected, representative school board – the path forward to provide transparency and accountability that protects students from harm, says union.

CHICAGO, IL—The CPS released a report on system-wide failures to protect students from sexual abuse – an appalling example of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s failed control our schools. CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey issued the following statement in response to the report’s deeply troubling findings:

“Rahm Emanuel and his hand-picked school bosses have failed repeatedly to protect schoolchildren from harm,” said CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey. “Emanuel’s hand-picked administrators and board of education have repeatedly rebuffed our efforts to establish an independent task force to address this issue, just as CPS has repeatedly bungled its efforts in re-fingerprinting educators.

“Our primary responsibility as educators is to ensure the safety of our students – a responsibility the mayor has undermined. Instead, Emanuel has closed nearly a hundred schools, slashed school budgets, robbed our school communities of veteran educators and created a dangerous shortage of social workers, clinical psychologists, counselors and certified school nurses. These are exactly the professionals best equipped to train students and staff to be alert to potential abuse, and to identify and address any threats to students. Our teachers, clinicians and paraprofessionals struggle under mayoral control—a school regime that has repeatedly covered up and concealed threats to student safety, whether that is rodent-infested buildings or sexual predators. Our schools and our students are little more than pawns in the mayor’s endless racket to enhance his political stature – a distorted agenda that has created what today’s report calls “costly changes”, and an inconsistent, dangerous culture in our schools that undercuts our students’ very safety and trust in our school communities.

“Rahm Emanuel owns this crisis – and he owns every single crisis our school district has confronted since he took over in 2011. His failed leadership of our schools must end, and the people of this city must be granted what they have repeatedly demanded – an elected, representative school board that is accountable, transparent and committed first, foremost and always to the wellbeing of our students and their school communities, rather than the mayor’s political fortunes.”

CHICAGO, IL – The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent in July and nonfarm payrolls increased by +3,700 jobs over-the-month, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The June job gain was revised down slightly from its initial report to show a smaller gain. (+17,200 jobs versus +18,100 jobs).

Job growth accelerated in the May to July period posting average monthly gains of +9,500 jobs over this three-month period, more than the 6-month average monthly gain of +8,200 jobs between February and July 2018.

“The state’s unemployment rate continued its downward trend in July and stands at its lowest point in 18 years,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “Illinois payroll employment also saw its largest over-the-year gain in more than two years.”

“The Illinois economy continues its comeback,” said Illinois Department of Commerce Director Sean McCarthy. “We are seeing what reduced red tape, a competitive economy, and investment in workforce and career pathways can do to promote growth and opportunity across the state.”

In July, the three industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Manufacturing (+2,400); Leisure and Hospitality (+2,000); and Professional and Business Services (+1,900). The industry sector with the largest payroll decline was: Government (-1,700).

Over-the-year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +65,700 jobs with the largest gains in these industry sectors in July: Manufacturing (+14,800); Leisure and Hospitality (+13,100); and Government (+11,500). The industry sectors with the over-the-year declines were: Information Services (-3,600) and Mining (-100). Illinois nonfarm payrolls were up +1.1 percent over-the-year in sharp contrast to the nation’s +1.6 percent over-the-year gain in July. This was the fourth consecutive month with over-the-year payroll employment increases of more than 50,000 in Illinois.

The state’s unemployment rate is +0.3 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for July 2018, which fell to 3.9 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate is down -0.8 percentage points from a year ago when it was 5.0 percent. The Illinois jobless rate last stood at 4.2 percent in February 2000.

The number of unemployed workers decreased -1.3 percent from the prior month to 272,200, down -15.5 percent over the same month for the prior year. The labor force was about unchanged over-the-month and over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and are seeking employment.

An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work. To help connect jobseekers to employers who are hiring, IDES’ maintains the state’s largest job search engine, IllinoisJoblink.com (IJL), which recently showed 55,888 posted resumes with 204,916 jobs available.

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates

Jul-18

Jun-18

Jul-17

3 month
Moving
Average

Over the
Month
Change

Over the
Year
Change

Illinois

4.2%

4.3%

5.0%

4.2%

-0.1

-0.8

U.S.

3.9%

4.0%

4.3%

3.9%

-0.1

-0.4

Illinois Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Jobs – by Major Industry

Industry

Jul-18
Current*

Jun-18*
Prior mnth**

Jul-17
Year Ago

Over the
Month

Over the
Year

3-month
Moving Avg

Change from
Previous
3-month
Moving Avg

IL – Total Nonfarm

6,128,900

6,125,200

6,063,200

3,700

65,700

6,120,700

9,500

IL – Mining

7,700

7,700

7,800

0

-100

7,700

100

IL – construction

227,700

226,000

220,400

1,700

7,300

226,600

800

IL – Manufacturing

591,000

588,600

576,200

2,400

14,800

589,000

1,000

IL – Trade, Transportation, and Utilities

1,214,500

1,214,000

1,210,100

500

4,400

1,215,800

-1,200

IL – Information

82,400

83,200

96,000

-800

-3,600

93,100

-600

IL – Financial Activities

399,200

399,000

391,600

200

7,600

399,200

200

IL – Professional and Business Services

947,200

945,300

943,200

1,900

4,000

944,400

2,500

IL – Educational and Health Services

929,400

930,700

922,800

-1,300

6,600

929,700

1,100

IL – Leisure and Hospitality

623,200

621,200

610,100

2,000

13,100

619,900

2,600

IL – Other Services

252,300

253,500

252,200

-1,200

100

252,600

300

IL – Government

844,300

846,000

832,800

-1,700

11,500

842,900

3,000

*preliminary
**Final

1976-2017 seasonally adjusted labor force data for Illinois, and all other states, have been revised as required by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The monthly historical revisions to state labor force estimates reflect new national benchmark controls, state working-age population controls, seasonal factors, as well as updated total nonfarm jobs and unemployment benefits claims inputs. Illinois labor force data were also smoothed to eliminate large monthly changes as a result of volatility in the monthly Census Population Survey (CPS) and national benchmarking. In February 2018, the BLS also introduced a new seasonal adjustment procedure for state labor force estimates which resulted in the entire monthly historical series for Illinois and all other states being replaced. For all of these reasons, the comments and tables citing unemployment rates in previous state news releases/materials may no longer be valid.

Not seasonally adjusted jobs data with industry detail are available at Not Seasonally Adjusted Jobs. “Other Services” include activities in three broad categories: Personal and laundry; repair and maintenance; and religious, grant making, civic and professional organizations. Seasonally adjusted employment data for subsectors within industries are not available

About IDES : IDES encourages employment by connecting employers to jobseekers, provides unemployment insurance benefits to eligible individuals, produces labor market data and protects taxpayers from unemployment insurance fraud. Visit the Department’s website at www.ides.illinois.gov for more information. You can also follow IDES on Twitter and Facebook.

Citizens Police Data Project quadruples in size, adds shooting and use of force history

From: The Invisible Institute

Now contains the oldest electronic disciplinary records available at Chicago Police Department, dating back to 1967

CHICAGO. IL –The Invisible Institute, a journalism production company on the city’s South Side, has quadrupled the size of its public database, the Citizens Police Data Project. The project has expanded to include more than 240,000 misconduct allegations and more than 22,000 individual Chicago Police officers over a 50-year period — as far back as such electronic disciplinary records exist.

The new searchable records also make public, for the first time, the full names of officers who have fired their weapons. Other critical datasets include officers’ use of force histories, ranks, promotions, commendations, and salary information.

The Citizens Police Data Project is used widely by Chicagoans, lawyers, journalists, academics, legislators and law enforcement officials. It arises out of two watershed events: a landmark court decision in 2014 that made police disciplinary records public in Illinois and a major open records victory in 2016, in which courts rejected the argument of the Fraternal Order of Police that disciplinary records should be destroyed after four years.

More recently, the database has been used to support claims in the class action lawsuit that catalyzed the process that recently resulted in a draft consent decree to govern police reform in Chicago.

“We’ve seen tremendous public benefit from this database,” said Jamie Kalven, founder of the Invisible Institute and the plaintiff of Kalven v. City of Chicago. “The greatly enlarged and enriched data now available will make it even more powerful as a tool for holding law enforcement agencies accountable.”

An initial analysis of the new data has found:

A small fraction of Chicago’s police force — only 130 officers — account for about a third of all incidents of deadly force, as reported in The Intercept today in “The Chicago Police Files.” These officers repeatedly participate in shootings, some as many as six times, whereas more than 99 percent of the police force will never be involved in any such incident over the course of their careers

Officers with high levels of complaints (at least 10 complaints) generate 64% of all complaints (January 1, 2000 – June 30, 2016 data) on the force. Police officers with the most complaints are less likely to be disciplined.

From 2000 to 2016, only 1.2% of civilian complaints resulted in an officer being suspended or terminated.

When citizens file complaints against the police, they are 20 times less likely to be believed than when police officers file complaints against their fellow officers (2000-2016 data).

Excessive force cases rarely result in discipline. Out of more than 8,700 excessive force claims from January 2007 to June 2016, investigators sustained only 1.5% of cases. Nearly 74% of these cases were filed by African-Americans.

Racial disparities in use of force have increased over the last decade, even as Chicago’s black population has declined. These disparities are seen even in majority-white areas of the city. Of the five police districts with the highest rates of force against African Americans per African-American resident, four are majority-white districts. African Americans also experience higher rates of force even in low-crime neighborhoods.

Internal reports show young black men experience Chicago Police use of force far more than white men — 14 times more often, according to 2005-2015 data — as reported by The Intercept today. Young black women were also 10 times more likely to experience force as their white female peers and twice as likely as young white men.

Cliques of misconduct and violence develop within the police department, according to Invisible Institute data published by The Intercept today. Police misconduct spreads within networks of officers as officers are exposed to other officers with higher numbers of complaints.

Complaints from areas of the city where high portions of the population experience extreme poverty — where many residents earn less than $1.25 per day — have a significantly lower likelihood of being sustained.

The new data also reveal alarming trends with respect to domestic violence among police officers. More than 6 percent of all Chicago police officers were accused of physical domestic abuse between 2000 and 2016 (excluding cases where multiple officers were accused or where the officer was unidentifiable). These officers also receive 50% more use of force complaints than their peers, and they receive other complaints of all kinds at a 55% higher rate than fellow officers.

The Invisible Institute is a journalism production company on the South Side of Chicago. Our mission is to enhance the capacity of citizens to hold public institutions accountable. Among the tactics we employ are human rights documentation, investigative reporting, civil rights litigation, the curating of public information, and the orchestration of difficult public conversations. The activities of the Invisible Institute cohere around a central principle: we as citizens have co-responsibility with the government for maintaining respect for human rights and, when abuses occur, for demanding they be addressed.

Sign up for The View From The Ground, a weekly roundup of developments and coverage on issues central to the work of the Invisible Instit

The Intercept, a publication of First Look Media, was launched in 2014 to provide an outlet for fearless, adversarial journalism. Our reporters have the editorial freedom to hold powerful institutions accountable, digging beneath official narratives to reveal the hidden truth. The Intercept’s award-winning coverage focuses on national security, politics, civil liberties, the environment, technology, criminal justice, media, and more. Regular contributors include co- founding editors Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill.

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Legislation, proposed by Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza, requiring Constitutional Officers to aspire to the same goals state agencies do of working with businesses owned by women, minorities and people with disabilities has become law.

Senate Bill 3106 requires state constitutional officers to establish aspirational goals for contract awards in accordance with provisions of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act. Under this act, 20% of contracts awarded to businesses by Constitutional Officers, including the Comptroller’s Office, should go to businesses owned by minorities, women, and individuals living with disabilities.

“I would like to thank the sponsors of this legislation, Representative Will Davis and Senator Toi Hutchinson. This marks the first time in our state’s history that BEP goals will be applied to all procurements for the Office of the Comptroller,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “This is just one more step we can take towards making state government better represent those it serves. Encouraging the growth of these businesses will lead to a more competitive environment for contracts and, eventually, potential savings for the state.”

Constitutional officers will be required to report annually on their websites how their offices perform in accordance with BEP procurement guidelines.

“I am pleased that Comptroller Mendoza and other constitutional officers took this initiative,” Representative Davis, D-Homewood, said. “This will help ensure that business contracts with the state become more equitable, and that helps everyone.”

The General Assembly passed SB 3106 unanimously. The legislation has an immediate effective date.

“The most important part of actually supporting the growth of these small businesses is when people in positions of authority actually make this a priority. I am thrilled that Comptroller Mendoza believes that we can either talk about it or do something about it,” Senator Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, said.

Data shows Chicago region is growing more car dependent amid failed attempts to relieve congestion by building and expanding roads

Chicago, IL— For decades, regional planning leaders have urged cities and villages across metropolitan Chicago to build communities in ways that reduce driving and increase walking, bicycling and public transit ridership. But a new analysis by the Active Transportation Alliance shows that the region has only grown more car dependent.

The analysis demonstrates the region’s inability to build its way out of traffic congestion. Between 1996 and 2015 alone, the region spent billions of dollars to add more than 1,000 miles of new roadway that was purported to reduce congestion. The data is consistent with research showing that roadway expansion in urban areas only exacerbates traffic congestion in the long run by inducing more driving that over time fills in the additional roadway space, with congestion rebuilding to previous levels.

For these reasons, Active Trans is calling for a moratorium on expressway expansion.

“The region should stop wasting money on roads that don’t relieve congestion beyond the short-term and spend the money instead on effective strategies like walking, biking and transit that are also healthier and more sustainable,” said Ron Burke, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance. “Shared-use and autonomous vehicles will largely replace the inefficient and deadly practice of relying on 3,000-pound single occupancy vehicles to move people in urban areas, so we need to plan for how to repurpose roads and parking spaces, not expand them.”

Despite relatively slow population growth and the construction of new roads, traffic congestion in metro Chicago has become much worse. According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, the average Chicagoland commuter lost 31 hours per year to traffic congestion in 1982 and 61 hours in 2014.

A larger percentage of Chicagoland residents are driving to work today compared to 1980, and the total amount of driving in the region has grown approximately four times faster than the population since 1980. While the region’s population grew by 18 percent since 1980, the traffic increased by 66 percent in the same period.

This rapid growth in driving has led to comparatively more traffic congestion, crashes, injuries and fatalities, as well as more air pollution, flooding and chronic disease due to physical inactivity. It also has made it more difficult for people to access jobs and other destinations without a car, worsening economic hardship for low-income residents.

For suburban residents, the percentage of work trips by car increased from 84 percent in 1980 to 86 percent in 2016, while the percentage of suburban work trips by walking, biking and transit decreased from 14.1 to 8.1 percent over the same period. In the city of Chicago, 58 percent of residents drove to work in 1980. The number increased to 65 percent in 2000 before falling back to 58 percent in 2016. Walking, biking and transit accounted for 40.4 percent of Chicago work trips in 1980 and 36.5 percent in 2016.

Another problem with building a region that requires a car to get around is the hardship it creates for people who cannot physically drive or cannot afford a car.

“The region’s continued investment in car-dependency and underfunding of other travel modes discriminates against the poor and people who cannot physically drive by making it difficult to reach jobs and other destinations without a car,” said Burke.

Active Trans sent a letter to the region’s planning agency, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Illinois Tollway Authority (ITA) calling for the exclusion of expressway expansion projects in the new comprehensive regional plan called “ON TO 2050” and in IDOT’s and ITA’s roadway plans.

Active Trans asked each agency to adopt a policy acknowledging that expressway expansion leads to more driving that offsets congestion relief. The regional advocacy group is also urging the state and region to instead prioritize lasting, cost-effective congestion relief strategies like better public transportation and rush-hour demand management such as converting travel lanes to carpool lanes during rush hour.

While more two-income households have contributed to the growth in driving, the analysis finds that the main cause is that most people don’t have an effective way to get to work and other destinations without a car, especially in the suburbs.

Active Trans notes that, even if roads are expanded with car pool lanes or tolled lanes as proposed by the Illinois Department of Transportation for I-55 and I-290, the result would be more driving and cars, not less.

Investments in transit, biking and walking carry greater long-term benefits at a much lower cost. The planned expansions of I-294, I-290 and I-55 would cost a combined $7.4 billion. In comparison, Chicago added 100 miles of new bikeways from 2011 to 2015 for $12 million, and converting expressway lanes to carpool lanes is inexpensive.

The Active Transportation Alliance is partnering with peer advocates and community-based organizations across the region to fight for these changes in the development of the regional plan and beyond. Active Trans’ Walk and Roll the Vote campaign will highlight these issues by educating voters and candidates in the upcoming 2018 statewide elections and 2019 municipal elections.

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Welcome to CopyLine Magazine! The first issue of CopyLine Magazine was published in November, 1990, by Editor & Publisher Juanita Bratcher. CopyLine’s main focus is on the political arena – to inform our readers and analyze many of the pressing issues of the day - controversial or otherwise. Our objectives are clear – to keep you abreast of political happenings and maneuvering in the political arena, by reporting and providing provocative commentaries on various issues. For more about CopyLine Magazine, CopyLine Blog, and CopyLine Television/Video, please visit juanitabratcher.com, copylinemagazine.com, and oneononetelevision.com. Bratcher has been a News/Reporter, Author, Publisher, and Journalist for 33 years. She is the author of six books, including “Harold: The Making of a Big City Mayor” (Harold Washington), Chicago’s first African-American mayor; and “Beyond the Boardroom: Empowering a New Generation of Leaders,” about John Herman Stroger, Jr., the first African-American elected President of the Cook County Board. Bratcher is also a Poet/Songwriter, with 17 records – produced by HillTop Records of Hollywood, California. Juanita Bratcher Publisher